The girl was home alone on the afternoon of Feb. 18 when she heard the gutters being ripped
off the house on W. Royal Forest Boulevard. She used her cellphone to take pictures of the thief
and his SUV, Columbus police said.

Detectives used the photos, plus evidence from a West Side scrap yard, to build their case.

Fields pleaded guilty in July to one felony count of theft. Franklin County Common Pleas
Judge Colleen O’Donnell imposed the sentence and said she will send Fields to prison for six months
if he violates probation.

Fields was working for a gutter company at the time of the crime. After seeing the photos,
the homeowner told investigators that he thought he recognized the thief as a worker who had
cleaned his gutters.